BOXING

BOXING; Hamed Picks Himself Up to Win in 4th

By MIKE FREEMAN

Published: August 20, 2000

MASHANTUCKET, Conn., Aug. 19—
There had been talk that Naseem Hamed, the World Boxing Organization featherweight champion, who is known as much for his entertaining entrances as for his right hook, wanted to tone down those garish walks to the ring. The flamboyant Hamed? Low-key?

Of course not. Hamed's entry to the ring tonight was as raucous as ever, complete with fireworks, explosions and rap music as loud as a jet engine.

But Augie Sanchez, a huge underdog, showed that he wanted to make his own fireworks. In the second round, he connected with a right hook that sent Hamed falling backward, and then to the canvas. Referee Michael Ortega ruled the knockdown a slip when it clearly was not.

At the end of that round, with the crowd at Foxwoods Resort Casino chanting, ''Augie!'' Hamed smiled. But inside he had to know he was in trouble.

By the third round, there was no question he was. Sanchez landed three consecutive rights, sending Hamed to the ropes. Hamed's left eye began to swell and he was bleeding from the nose.

But this is why Hamed is, despite his sometimes arrogant tactics in the ring, one of the best boxers in the sport, and why he successfully defended his title for the 15th time: he can turn on his skills in an instant, and he did so against Sanchez with almost terrifying devastation, knocking him out with 2 minutes 34 seconds left in the fourth round and retaining his title.

Hamed landed a hard left that stunned Sanchez. Then a right and a left came with frightening speed and power. Another right seemed to connect as Ortega started to pull Hamed away to end the fight. Sanchez did not have a chance and was down quickly.

Sanchez stayed on the canvas for several moments, in a daze. The ring physician, Michael Schwartz, said Sanchez was slow to respond to his questions and had slurred speech. The boxer was taken to Backus Hospital in Norwich as a precaution.

''It was a win in devastating fashion, and I pray that he is all right,'' Hamed said of Sanchez. He later added, ''Every time I hit him with the right hook I felt like I really hurt him.''

When asked about the knockdown that wasn't, Hamed said, ''I felt my feet were off balance and that he should have gotten the knockdown.''

The knockout by Hamed will surely add to his legend, but will also give material to critics who claim he focuses on showmanship at the expense of boxing.

Hamed improved his record to 35-0 with 31 knockouts. Sanchez fell to 26-2.

Hamed seems to undergo some sort of transformation for each fight, sometimes both professionally and personally. For most of his boxing career, for example, Hamed did very little roadwork, preferring instead to stay in the gym. A boxer relies heavily on stamina, and not jogging at least a few miles a day makes little sense. To prepare for this bout, Hamed ran four to five times a week.

Hamed may also be listening more to his trainers. For this fight, Hamed worked closely with Oscar Suarez, one of his trainers. Suarez wanted Hamed to improve his balance and to expand his menu of counterpunches. Hamed was an excellent student.

Hamed's boxing skills may finally have reached the level of his sometimes over-the-top braggadocio.

Personally, Hamed seems to be growing as well. He talks about trying to be more humble, and speaks often about his wife and two children. Humility and Hamed are two words not often found in the same sentence.

Hamed is a fighter, and much of his profession is based on showmanship, not diplomacy. He is P. T. Barnum, circa 2000. Still, despite his skills and extensive vocabulary, the British Hamed has not caught on with American boxing fans -- this was only his fourth fight in the United States -- and may not until he has a defining match.

That fight may come early next year if a deal can be reached for Hamed to meet Marco Antonio Barrera, who is among the top five featherweights in the world.

Until such an intriguing matchup, Hamed will simply keep fighting. Besides talking about his greatness, it is what he does best.

PUNCH LINES

In the other feature match of the night, the junior-welterweight MICKY WARD (35-10, 26 knockouts) was strong in the early rounds, hitting ANTONIO DIAZ (33-2, 22 knockouts) with a series of hard right punches. But Diaz began to wear down Ward with crunching body blows and stinging jabs to the head. Diaz was also much more accurate. Late in the 10-round fight, he opened a cut near Ward's left eye that bloodied his face. Ward landed some strong rights late in the fight, but Diaz's precision caught the attention of the judges. Diaz won in a unanimous decision. . . . AGAPITO SANCHEZ (32-7-1, 19 knockouts) won his 10-round featherweight bout unanimously over JUAN CARLOS RAMIREZ (21-3, 9 knockouts). . . . The lightweight LIZ MUELLER of Quaker City, Conn., a former high school cross-country star, improved her record to 5-0 with two knockouts after beating JANE COUCH of England (13-3, 6 knockouts) in a unanimous decision.